Will Stephen Colbert’s Delightful R.N.C. Coverage Earn Late Show the Patience It Deserves?

As the Republican National Convention has unfolded, Stephen Colbert has staged a triumphant return to form as one of the sharpest satirists on television. He’s brought his popular “Hungry for Power Games” to the Cleveland stage, resurrected his Colbert Report persona to coin the word “Trumpiness,” and masterfully parodied Melania Trump’s plagiarized speech (with some help from ace impressionist Laura Benanti).

In other words, it’s already been a very viral week for The Late Show—one that Colbert is hopefully enjoying immensely, considering the chatter that’s surrounded his show for months.

Colbert’s iteration of Late Show is still young, but critics and audiences alike have had trouble being patient as Colbert finds his groove. Comparisons to The Colbert Report have been frequent, if unreasonable: any show that lasted almost a decade should, logically, be better than one that’s just getting its feet wet. Still, Colbert has struggled to find his late-night sweet spot so far.

And to top it all off, there’s been idle chatter about whether or not James Corden, whose Late Late Show has a knack for going viral, might snag his job. The rivalry narrative seems dated and forced, and Corden has already shot down the rumors—but now, Colbert has opened up about them, too. Put together, these guys’ statements seem to prove that the chatter is just that: noise.

When The Hollywood Reporter asked Colbert how he felt about the lingering Corden question, his response was about what you’d expect.
“The implication of that question is that the show isn't good enough in its present position,” Colbert said. “So of course that makes you feel bad. But it doesn't jibe with what I know about our show, so you recover.”

Back in June, Howard Stern asked Corden about the rumors, and the answer was unequivocal: him replacing Colbert is “never gonna happen.” But Corden did more than simply deny the narrative—he also built up Colbert’s show in the process, pointing out that at the time his network-mate’s ratings were up, and that “these shows always take a while to find their feet.”

When asked for comment in the Colbert article, even CBS execs denied the rumors. CBS president Glenn Geller echoed Corden: “It’s really easy for people to pit the shows against each other. But they’re different kinds of shows, they’re different kinds of hosts.”

Late-night shuffles are easy to dream up—especially for those who witnessed the great Leno-Conan-Letterman battles of yore. Corden’s and Colbert’s comments prove just how much the late-night field has changed since then: the dog-eat-dog attitude has apparently all but dissolved. In the new late-night playing field, this story feels stale and vaguely artificial. Hopefully, now that everyone’s sounded off, we can put this narrative to bed—and focus on what will, hopefully, be the start of a sustained winning streak for Colbert.